Shadow: Agent of GUN
by Butch 2.0
Summary: An attack on the GUN base brings Shadow back into the fight. Who attacked the base and what are they after? Shadow will have to push his personal growth to the limit to find out.
1. Chapter 1

"Agent Shadow, come in," said the voice in his gold bracelet gracing his black arm in front of his white gloved hands.

He opened his eyes. He had been meditating quietly in this park, listening to nature. It had been a time of peace. He raised his bracelet up to level with his mouth.

"Shadow here," said the black hedgehog calmly if slightly smug.

"I thought we might have lost you. The base is under attack, Shadow. We need you to…," the GUN Commander's voice was cut off.

"Commander?" said Shadow one more time into his bracelet. There was only static. There was only one thing to do. He had to leave this peaceful park and head back to the GUN headquarters bunker underneath Central City. It was fortunate that he was not further out of town. A steady skate would get him to the GUN base quickly.

In a little under ten minutes, Shadow reached the entrance to the base. Normally it would look like an unoffending building a couple of blocks from the President's House labelled Department of Agriculture. On the top it was a five story skyscraper, but the real guts of the building were underground.

Today though it was engulfed in flame as robots were engaged in shootouts with GUN forces trying to break through the siege. They were a strange mix of units. There were Egg Pawns but many of the robots were old Meteotech models that Shadow did not recognize. There were also motobugs, katerkillers, and other Badniks.

What was the Doctor up to? Why would he stage a direct assault on GUN HQ and not the President's residence just down the road? Why attack GUN at all? The Doctor usually was not so blunt with objectives.

Shadow made his way to a line of tanks. The tank commander recognized him and signaled to come up on the GUN tank.

"Agent Shadow, go to see you. The enemy have already infiltrated the base. We are trying to breakthrough to the commander below," said the tank officer.

"Have they made any demands?" asked Shadow.

"No. However they are keeping us back. If you could cut a path for us, we could send in some mech troops and clear them out," said the tank officer.

"Accepted," said Shadow. Without a chaos emerald, he could not activate his most devastating attacks. Yet he could still stomp a few Badniks. He jumped down from the tank onto an Egg Pawn, breaking it open to release an animal. He began to charge a spin dash and took down a row of motobugs. This put him behind a row of Meteotech mechs.

Shadow jumped into the first one and then while still airborne hit the next five in succession. That broke down the resistence as the GUN tanks now had the advatange. Shadow used the confusion in the firefight to get to the front door. It was barricaded.

Shadow frowned, but then unleashed a huge chop to the door and got through. The inside of the building was designed like an old hotel. There were five levels of rooms visible from the open center atrium. There were the offices of the agriculture department sure enough. The place Shadow wanted to go was down not up.

He had expected a lot of resistance in the atrium. That was based on the fighting outside, but there did not seem to be any units to back up the fighters outside. That was poor planning, but Shadow thought little more about it as he found the service elevator on the first floor just on the other side of the atrium. He hit the button and the door opened to reveal a small platform and a giant robot arm.

Shadow ignored the giant robot arm, which was essentially a crane to lower the president's smaller plane to a secret launch area or bring the president in to the safety of the GUN base. Shadow looked at the passage back up since there was no roof. Some unmemorable music was being played. There was piano to it and only served to remind Shadow that this elevator was slow.

It was also marvelously contained. Shadow could not even hear the battle going on outside. He also wondered why there were no mechs in the elevator to stop him. The Doctor must have lost his touch. The elevator finally stopped and Shadow exited.

To his left was a secure hallway and to his right was a path to the parking garage. The visible vehicles in the garage looked trashed. Transport had evidently been important to these Eggman robots. Destroying cars, barring the doors, and keeping a fighting force outside. The mechs were not trying to keep GUN out, they were trying to keep something IN. What could that be?

Shadow entered the hallway and immediately a hail of bullets came at him. He backed out and closed the big white door behind him. There were mechs in that hallway. That hallway had many branches, but the most important one led to the nerve center of GUN, home to the GUN supercomputer. The presence of the enemy suggested that might be their objective.

Shadow looked around him and noted an HVAC vent above him. It was connected to a pipe that went over the hallway. Shadow may not be able to use it to completely bypass the enemy, but he could use it to get the intel on whoever was in the hall.

He decided the foes in the hall were not going to pursue him since they had not banged against the door or its bulletproof glass. Shadow jumped and hugged the HVAC pipe from below. He established a good grip and released the vent cover to open a hole. The turned on his hover shoes to help him propel into the hole. Once inside things went black except for the little shards of light denoting other vents ahead.

Shadow crawled down the shaft on all fours. He came to the first vent opening. He looked down. Sure enough there were motobugs and slicers guarding the hallway. There was a good number of them too. Shadow determined his plan of action and then crawled to the next vent.

Using his limited chaos control powers, Shadow materialized in the hall next to a slicer. Shadow kicked it into the wall and then homing attacked a ring of motobugs. This gave him access to the door at the end of the hall. Shadow opened it, exited, slammed it to jam it, and took a breath. He could hear the sounds of motobugs bouncing into the door. They could try if they wanted too.

Shadow now saw a short hallway with two doors. One led direct to the GUN supercomputer and the situation room. The other cut through some offices. Shadow decided to opt for the latter. He entered the first office and as he thought there was no one there. He skated past the work desk to get to the next door which also revealed an empty office.

Shadow also bypassed this office into the third. At the side of the third office was a closet marked janitor in big bold text. Shadow entered this door and it looked like a closet. There was a mop and some cleaning supplies including bleach and a water bucket. Shadow took the mop and noted that it was dry. He dipped it in the bucket of water and mixed a little bleach.

He let go of the staff end of the mop and began to observe the wall. He found a small block slightly dislodged. He pulled it and the wall disappeared in front of him revealing the innards of the situation room. It was dark as always and no one noticed the panel opening. Shadow noted the room was flooded with Egg Pawns and that the GUN Commander was the only GUN soldier conscious in the room.

Shadow grabbed the mop and warped next an Egg Pawn and drove the handle into his body. As the flicky hopped away, Shadow slung the mop handle with its water covered brush end to short out another Egg Pawn. This Pawn dropped an Eggman gun, which Shadow swept up. He then began to clear out another group of the Pawns with the oversized shooter.

Shadow causally threw a gun to the Commander. The two then proceeded to wipe out the remaining Pawns, who seemed more concerned with the computer than Shadow and the Commander. When the dust cleared, the ground was covered in flickies, but Shadow and the Commander were fine.

"Bout time you got here, Shadow," said the Commander, turning to the supercomputer.

"What happened here, Commander?" asked Shadow as he turned toward the massive computer monitor.

"I have no idea. Eggman robot activity increased and so we sent Agent Rouge to investigate. She has not reported in. What did they do to this computer?" yelled the Commander as none of his key imputs seemed to be doing anything.

"Rouge?" asked Shadow.

"Yes. I was hoping we could get online and contact her, but the last message that we sent was to you before they hacked the system. Looks like some kind of virus. Maybe I can get to the antivirus software…" mumbled the Commander.

"Na na na, you didn't say the magic word," taunted the GUN supercomputer.

"I don't have time for this," the GUN Commander slammed his fist on the panel. "Do you have any ideas?"

"I know of two people who fix this. One of them is the Doctor. The other one is…" started Shadow.

"Don't tell me! They might have bugged this thing. Just go get them. I can't offer you much in way of transport, not with everything down like this. Make do with what you can. We need to stop Eggman before he tries to build another amusement park," said the GUN Commander.

"Yes, Commander," said Shadow.


	2. Chapter 2

Shadow left the GUN building to discover that the mech suits had wiped out the number of Eggman robots at the entrance. The building still looked like a charred mess. The panel denoting as the Department of Agriculture was lying on the ground, dented with bullets. The gray building had the black scorch marks of fire from the fight.

Shadow looked briefly down the road where the President's residence was in complete peace. That still did not make sense to Shadow. He tossed the Eggman gun away into the grass near some Eggman robot remains. It looked like the tank troops would be moving to secure the President, so if it was a distraction GUN would still resist.

Shadow did not even salute the troops as they passed. He had to get somewhere fast. No motorcycles and no jeeps. How would he get where he needed to go? The Eggman raid had knocked out military vehicles, but had they hit public transit? Shadow looked once more at the President's residence. No, he decided. There was a train to catch. He skated off.

The train was not very descript or busy. Shadow leaned against a bar in the center of the passenger car with his arms folded across his chest. The majority of passengers had gotten off at the Station Square train station. Not Shadow, his stop was still up ahead. He wondered if these bullet trains would be fast enough. GUN needed the supercomputer and then they needed to find Rouge and stop these Eggman shenanigans. What was the Doctor up to anyway.

"Train has arrived at the Mystic Ruins, as you exit please mind the gap," said the announcer over the intercom in a booming but feminine voice.

Shadow exited onto an older rickety train platform. He hoped his intel was right. The last time he had seen this guy was in Central City during the Emeril mess. He walked down the stairs and turned to look at the train bridge overhead. Should be just past this arch, Shadow thought.

Sure enough Shadow was greeted by a stone staircase in the distance with a barren plain next to him. He could see a building on the top of the hill. He thought he could see a puff of smoke. That was encouraging. Someone must be there. Shadow paused halfway up the stairs, he could feel something in the wind. He shook it off and continued to the door. He knocked on the door.

The door slowly opened and a yellow fox with two tails looked up at Shadow. The fox was wearing a welding shield as if he had been working on something. The visor was lifted over his face so that Shadow could see it. He was wearing an apron and he held a small blowtorch.

"Shadow? What are you doing here?" asked Miles Prower.

"GUN needs your help. Eggman has put a virus in the supercomputer," said Shadow.

"Wait, don't you have agents for that?" asked Tails.

"If I thought they were up to it, I would not be here now. I need you to come to Central City as soon as possible," said Shadow.

"He's not going anywhere, unless it is with me," said a husky voice from behind Shadow.

Shadow turned slightly to see who had showed up. He wore a green scarf and a red hat of some kind. He was a bear, but a white one. Shadow had never seen him before.

"I don't think I know you, sir. If you need my help, you'll have to wait until after I come back," said Tails.

"I don't think ya understand. You are coming with me, fox. My client has offered good money for you. As for you, hedgehog, I thought you had already been captured. No matter to me, I could use the bonus don'tcha know," said the polar bear.

"Captured hedgehog? You can't mean Sonic?" gasped Tails.

"Well I was told so, but it looks like he's right here, unless it is some Eggman clone. Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way," said the bear.

The bear put up his dukes and got ready.

"Tails, get out of here," said Shadow calmly.

"What did you say?" asked Tails.

Shadow knew only one thing about polar bears. They had one weakness. He was about to exploit it.

The polar lowered his punch aimed for Shadow's face.

Shadow dodged forward under the swing and ended up well within the reach of the bear. He aimed a kick low and found his target. The bear crumpled into the fetal position, as Shadow backed off a few steps.

"Why? Why did you kick me there? You might have broke the bone!" screamed out the bear in pain.

"Tails, is there a way to get out of here before he recovers?" asked Shadow. "There has to be backup around here somewhere."

"Yes, we can take the Tornado to Central City," said Tails. He reentered his workshop and pressed a button to turn the top of the cliff into a landing strip. The bear continued to writhe in pain and scream next to them.

"Any room for him? GUN might have questions," said Shadow.

"The Tornado is not big enough for cargo," said Tails. "However we know one thing."

"What's that?" asked Shadow.

"His bark is worse than his bite," smiled Tails.

The Tornado left Tails' workshop with Tails in the pilot seat and Shadow perched on the top wing. This would be much faster than the train.

With goggles on the air rippled through Tails' shiskers and also flowed through Shadow's quills. Tails looked up at the wrong hedgehog occupying that familiar spot.

"Shadow, what is going on? That polar bear mentioned Sonic being captured, do you think he was telling the truth?" started Tails.

"I don't know. I was sent here to get the GUN computer fixed so that GUN could locate Rouge. She's missing too," said Shadow. "Whatever the Doctor is up to, it is big and it is a threat to GUN. That is my concern right now."

"I hope Sonic's okay," said Tails.

"He takes care of himself pretty good. Don't you have a communicator or something that you can call him with?" asked Shadow.

"Oh yeah, one minute," said Tails. There was shuffling in the cockpit and the plane suddenly dove in altitude. Shadow grabbed on to the wing for dear life.

"Got it!" said Tails, producing a yellow panel. The plane straightened out. Shadow showed some relief.

"Tails calling Sonic, come in Sonic!" said Tails into his device. He waited for Sonic's voice but all he got was static. He tried again. Still nothing.

"So?" asked Shadow.

"He's not there. Now I'm really worried," said Tails.

"Well the only way we can find him would be to turn the GUN supercomputer's satellites to scan for him or maybe there is another clue somewhere," said Shadow.

"I hope so," said Tails.

The little airplane descended over Central City. Several anti-aircraft batteries fired warning shots as the Tornado approached the runway for the presidential plane to get into the GUN base. Tails began to get nervous seeing the tracers and flak booming around.

"GUN, this is Shadow. I am on this plane, stop firing," said Shadow into his bracelet. He looked back at Tails, "They may not get the message. I hope you have practice with messy landings."

Tails gulped. Shadow was right, his communications with GUN were still out. As long as the supercomputer was infected, GUN could not coordinate with anything but line of sight. He tried to steer the plane to descend, but the fire got more directed and numerous as he got closer to the strip. Then a shot took out the lower wing of the biplane.

The lurch sent Shadow flying but he grabbed the edge of the wing. Tails decided a conventional landing was impossible so he aimed for a retention pond next to the strip and ditched the plane into it. Before the crash he jumped out of his seat. He used his tails to hover and grab Shadow by his whirling feet. Shadow let go of the plane and it crashed into the pond's water and mud and came to a rest.

Tails struggled to hold Shadow as he lowered him to the ground. He deposited Shadow safely on the runway. The sun was bright looking down upon them and they showed no shadows on the pavement. As Shadow righted himself, GUN troops came from all around and aimed their guns at thee pair.

Shadow prepared for a showdown, but a voice rang out.

"It's Agent Shadow. Stand down, men," said an officer's voice.

The men lowered their weapons. The officer emerged from the crowd. He ran up to the hedgehog and the fox.

"Agent Shadow, I apologize for shooting you down. You have to understand we have set up a no fly zone over the government center of Central City. We are taking no chances. You and your guest are expected by the GUN Commander. I assume you know where to go?" asked the officer.

"Just be glad you missed. Follow me, Tails," said Shadow, motioning with his left hand for the fox to follow. "And…"

"And what?" asked Tails.

"We're even," said Shadow.

Shadow approached the back door. The retinal scanner that would have been there was still broken so Shadow just opened the door and head in. The next few minutes found him and Tails back in the command center. The place had been cleaned up with all the Egg Pawn chunks cleaned up and most of the GUN troops had been revived. The supercomputer was still on the fritz.

The GUN Commander leaned on a railing that surrounded the computer and saw Shadow return. "Ah, Shadow, you are back and you brought the fox with you?" inquired the Commander.

"Yes, he is the only one who can fix the computer," said Shadow.

"Well, son, your country needs you. Are you up for the task?" asked the Commander.

"Yes, sir," said Tails as he saluted. A GUN soldier escorted him to the computer where Tails proceeded to settle down to his task. He cracked his knuckles and then began to type furiously.

"It will take some time for him to get solve it, I'm sure. So let's talk about our other problem. We still have no idea what happened to Rouge. It seems it would be Eggman's doing, but she might have left some clues," said the Commander.

"What is your directive, Commander?" asked Shadow.

"I want you to go to Rouge's house in Central City. See if there is anything you can find there that would tell us where she went. Then come back here and we will decide what to do next. It's hard to know what Eggman wants since he targeted us but not the President, but with him it has never been good before. Splitting the world, shooting the moon, or building amusement parks- he never has been all that predictable," said the Commander.

"I am going," said Shadow.

"Good luck," said the Commander. He turned away to see what Tails was doing to the GUN supercomputer.

Shadow skated away. Rouge's house was part of her club in the Night Babylon district. It doubled as a GUN safe house since no one suspected that a casino and bar would serve as a government operation. Shadow hoped he remembered the password.


	3. Chapter 3

Rouge the Bat could be reckless when it came to magical jewels, but normally she kept her head where missions were concerned. The Commander might be right. She might have left a trail for precisely this situation. Shadow also knew that he had few friends in the world and she counted as one of them. If Eggman had done anything to her…

Shadow was not normally a visitor to the Night Babylon district, it was an entertainment area and its sights and sounds annoyed him mostly. He had been to Club Rouge at least once before, so he knew how to get to the place.

Leaving the government center, Shadow was amazed how quickly the City returned from its heightened military state in the middle to the ease of everyday life. Despite the it only being early afternoon, the Night Babylon district was already thriving with activity. No one really noticed the black hedgehog as he entered Club Rouge.

Shadow ignored the slots and pinball tables and moved back toward the bar. He noticed two figures on the stools, both in a state of inebriation. As he passed, one of them called out to him.

"Heeeeeeeey, Mighty, look it's Sonic! Hey come over here Sonic, long time no seeeeeee," said the brownish squirrel.

"You're seeing things again, Ray, that's not Sonic. That's a mirage. I don't think you've had enough to drink," said Mighty the Armadillo as he was crouched over his cup and trying to stop Ray the Flying Squirrel from waving.

"Whatever you say, Mighty. Hey you remember that time we escaped Eggman's base? Those were the days, man," said Ray.

"Do you remember the time we went to that theme park island and used bungie cords to get around?" asked Mighty.

"No," said Ray.

"That was the best except for the guy who kept blowing up," said Mighty.

"Where did Sonic go?" asked Ray, looking around and seeing no sign of Shadow.

"He was never there, Ray. Now let's order more drinks," said Mighty.

Shadow had left the bar area for the restrooms. In between the men's and women's restrooms was a closet marked 'janitor.' Shadow opened this closet door and made his way to the back of the lengthy closet. There he found a small console that was still running. A beam detected him and then scanned him.

"GUN Database: Shadow the Hedgehog. Password?" asked the voice.

Shadow paused for a moment. Rouge had told him the password long ago. Hopefully he had not forgotten it. "Echidna," said Shadow.

"Access Granted," said the door. The wall now slid back to reveal Rouge's actual living quarters. Shadow walked in carefully. He could see a desk and a punching bag. He would start at the desk. He looked at the arrangement that Rouge had for the desk.

She had a newer model GUN computer with two monitors. There were also some papers on the desk in a stack. Shadow hit the mouse and the computer blinked awake. A document popped up. Shadow took care to read the document.

 _To whom it may concern:_

 _Am going out for breakfast. I need to pick up some eggs. May not be easy to find them where I am going. I left the light on to keep trouble away and secure good luck. Such a simple night light, shining amidst the waste. I will clean it when I return._

 _R_

Great, Shadow thought. A riddle. She clearly went after Eggman and must have known where his hideout might be. The second part, Shadow did not get though. A light amidst the waste? Shadow frowned. Where was there waste?

Shadow hesitated before he opened the door to Rouge's bathroom. It had a perfumed fragrance that was a bit much. He also noted the number of beauty products on the vanity. He looked in a trash bin, but saw no light source there. He looked around at other items in the room. There was a big bath tub, a toilet, and a bidet.

He turned the light switch off. There were no faint glows anywhere. Waste, he thought to himself. He turned the light back on and went to the septic tank of the toilet. He pulled off the lid and a light glow greeted him in the slightly brown water of the tank. The yellow glow of a chaos emerald. Rouge had been looking out for him. The problem was that he still did not know where she was, but perhaps Tails and the Commander could help him with the riddle.

Shadow left through the closet and avoid the bar entirely on his way out. However he could not get over the feeling that he was being watched. He skated off to the GUN base to report to the Commander.

Tails and the Commander were making progress, or at least Shadow thought they were from their expressions. The Commander noticed the hedgehog's entry.

"Good news, your friend has broken some of the code. We can see where Eggman has been sending his soldiers," said the Commander.

"Oh?" asked Shadow, still thinking of Rouge's riddle.

"We also got the low down on that bear that tried to jump you earlier," said the Commander. "Name's Bark. He is a mercenary free-lance kind of guy."

"That's odd," said Shadow.

"Yes, Eggman doesn't usually rely on mercenaries to do his work for him. It seems a little out of place, but not impossible. It also means that we have watch out for more than mechs out there," said the GUN Commander. "What did you find about Rouge?"

"She went after Eggman all right, she said she would look for him where it would be hard to find eggs. She also left me this chaos emerald," said Shadow.

"Agent Rouge never could do things the easy way. We'll take care of that in time. Prower, tell me what you have found about Eggman's forces," said the Commander.

"Well according to the feed that I have hacked into this baby, Eggman has dispensed his forces to attack several targets on this land mass. There are forces attacking certain spots in Central City, there are forces in the Station Square area, more in the Mystic Ruins, some on Angel Island, some in the Frog Forest, and some in Casino Park," said Tails.

"Those don't sound like military targets. Do those sites have anything in common?" asked the Commander.

"Sonic and I have been to all them at one time or another," said Tails.

"Could Eggman be targeting your friends?" asked Shadow. His memory of Bark the polar bear was still fresh.

"Well, Knuckles lives on Angel Island. Big and I live around the Mystic Ruins. Amy and Cream live in Central City. Yet that doesn't explain the other locations. I suppose it would explain that Sonic and Rouge are missing," said Tails scratching his head. He was suddenly worried for Knuckles and the others.

"How about Chaos Emeralds? Those have been a hot item before," said the Commander looking at the yellow emerald in Shadow's hand.

"There are seven different groups. It could be they were tasked to retrieve the emeralds," said Tails.

"There was no action outside Rouge's place, and she had one of the emeralds," mentioned Shadow.

"But Rouge does seem to be missing, and if they captured Sonic…" suggested Tails.

"Looks like we need more information. Two of these sites are in Central City. Agent Shadow, I want you to investigate each. If you can clean out any robot resistance, so much the better. Prower, zoom on the two locations," said the Commander.

Tails typed the command and the satellite shifted to zoom over the robot activity. "That's Cream's house!" exclaimed Tails. The satellite zoomed in on the second feed. "That's Amy's!" The Emerald Town suburb had not one but two incursions of robots.

"Well, Shadow, maybe they are after Sonic's friends. Go and investigate, agent," said the GUN Commander.

"Aren't you going to send backup? You know like real military troops and stuff?" asked Tails.

"Son, securing the GUN base and the president are my priorities right now. While you may have hacked into whatever programming the Eggman is using, I still cannot communicate with my troops. Shadow's no baby. But if you're worried you can go with him," said the Commander.

"What about the other sites like Angel Island? We can't exactly walk there," said Shadow.

"Our technicians will fix up Prower's plane to have at your disposal. Its systems weren't scrambled like our GUN jets. Now get a move on, you two. I don't want to be surprised by Eggman's next move any more than I was surprised by this one," said the Commander.


	4. Chapter 4

Shadow turned away and began walking to the door. Tails looked at the Commander strangely and then ran to catch up. Shadow mostly ignored his companion as he skated over to Emerald Town. Tails kept up best he could, but he was getting the feeling that Shadow did not want him there.

Tails shouted out ahead as the pair went down the tree lined streets of Emerald Town. "Hey, Shadow, why don't you let me go ahead and check things out. Then we can come up with a plan."

Shadow paused and turned around to look back at the fox and nodded.

Tails was caught off guard. If he had suggested to Sonic that they slow down, his suggestion would have been ignored. He took off for the air. Cream's house was close. Sure enough there were Eggman mechs there. Egg Fighters by the look of them. They were just milling about as if they were waiting for something. Tails then saw something in the distance. There was a shaking bush. It was beyond the interest of the Egg Fighters.

Tails landed quietly and then spread the bushes apart. He looked down to see a little blue creature with a bow tie. Cheese! Tails leaned in and picked the little guy up. Cheese was not in any mood to be messed with and shot Tails a dirty look.

Cream had evidently sent Cheese away to get help or something. Cheese must not have been clear on what he was supposed to do, and basically had refused to leave Cream if that meant hiding in this bush.

Tails clutched Cheese to his chest while the Chao crossed its arms without protesting. Tails then flew back to where Shadow was waiting.

"So what did you find?" asked Shadow.

"I found the house and the Egg Fighters around it. They are all camped out around the house, but they are not being real careful. I think that we could surprise them from the air. I also found Cheese," said Tails.

The Chao's attitude instantly changed when it saw Shadow. It leaped out of Tails' arms and flew over to the dark hedgehog and proceeded to nuzzle his chest, making cooing sounds. Shadow did not know how to react to that and just stood looking at Tails.

"Do you know Cheese from somewhere?" asked the fox.

"We met once in the Doctor's castle," said Shadow, adjusting his gaze to look down at the Chao. It was obliviously happy. Cheese began pulling the arm of Shadow to no effect, but it was clear that he wanted Shadow to go to Cream's house.

"Can you get me to the roof?" asked Shadow.

Tails nodded.

The Egg Fighters seemed pretty docile despite their gear. They had evidently drawn easy duty. Then something flew across the setting sun. The Egg Fighters turned to the horizon to see what it was. By then it was too late.

The Fighters fell over in heaps, and little animals began blinking their eyes at their new freedom. In the middle of the yard was Shadow in a landing pose from his chaos control. It was much stronger with that chaos emerald in his possession and the Fighters had never really seen the whirlwind that had enveloped them.

Tails and Cheese descended from the roof and the three approached the front door of the Rabbit house. It was now almost dark and the twilight made the house look more intimidating that it would have looked in the daytime. Even its friendly thatch roof seemed to stare down on them. Cheese sped ahead and began to pull at the door.

Shadow approached the door and opened the handle. It was not locked. He swung it wide and he could see something that he had not intended to see. In the room were Vanilla and Cream tied up and sitting on the floor. The one standing guard over them was a grey robot with a round head and a star like crest in the front.

"Emeril?" asked the hedgehog before the robot unleashed laser fire at him. Shadow tried to catch his feet. He could hear Tails coming in behind him.

"No, Shadow. That's Gemeril, he was rebuilt by Eggman. But don't worry, he's perfectly safe without chaos emeralds," said the fox.

"Then why is he firing at me?" asked Shadow.

"He probably just was jumpy about all the Eggman's robots," said Tails. "Isn't that right, Gemeril?"

"Tails, there is no one else here. He has to be the one holding them prisoner," said Shadow.

"No, that's impossible," said Tails as he watched Gemeril aim his arm cannon right for Tails himself.

The bolt fired and Tails realized his error, but not in time to escape the shot. He felt a weight thrust into him suddenly and he bounced on the floor. He looked around to see Shadow on all fours, recovering from something.

"Get him, Cheese," sputtered Shadow, pointing at Gemeril.

Cheese launched into an attack. For the most part it was not effecting Gemeril, but the robot was having to direct his attention at the Chao like an elephant swatting at a fly that he can't quite reach.

Shadow got up grabbing his arm. In that arm was the yellow chaos emerald. This was his chance while the Chao had him distracted.

"Chaos Control," he said. He burst into Gemeril, severing his head and left arm. The robot powered down at the feet of a stunned Vanilla and Cream.

Cheese immediately flew to Cream's aid and tugged at her ropes. Tails began to untie them as Shadow remained kneeling on the floor. The rabbits got free. Cream ran over to Shadow and the black hedgehog turned his head to look at her.

"Mr. Shadow?" asked Cream.

Shadow nodded.

"Did you have to do that?" asked Cream.

Shadow nodded again.

"I forgive you, Mr. Shadow," said Cream as she began tearing up.

"Don't cry Cream, I fixed him once before. I can do it again. I'll start right now," said Tails. He picked up Gemeril's arm to see what kinds of tools he would need.

"Why did they take us?" asked Vanilla the Rabbit.

"We don't know. It could be because you're Sonic's friends or it could be that they wanted Gemeril. Or it could be some other reason that we haven't figured out yet," said Tails.

"Why did Gemeril turn on us?" asked Vanilla, still a bit rattled.

"Maybe they used his old Eggman programming against us," said Tails. He was sorting out wire connections in his mind.

"Tails, you stay here with them. I will complete the mission. When I get back, we should move them to the GUN base for safety," said Shadow.

"Are you sure you are up for it, Mr. Shadow?" said Cream. "You look hurt."

"I have to complete the mission. Do not stand in my way," said Shadow.

"Shadow, there's no telling what sort of mess could be there at Amy's house. You saw the Egg Fighters here. We've seen Bark and Gemeril fight against us. I don't think you should take that kind of risk," said Tails.

Shadow straightened up. "I'm fine. I'll be back." With that he skated out the door leaving Tails to repair Gemeril in the company of the two rabbits.

"I don't like this," said Tails to the other two. Should he really stay here? The robots might be back and someone had to defend Cream and Vanilla since Gemeril could not really do that at this point.

"Cheese, follow Mr. Shadow," said Cream. The little Chao headed out the door and toward where he sensed the chaos emerald Shadow had in his possession.


	5. Chapter 5

Shadow traversed the couple blocks to Amy Rose's apartment complex easily enough. There were motobugs and other badniks on the walk outside. Nothing as difficult as the Egg Fighters and nothing as difficult as Gemeril. However they were not behaving like a siege army, which meant that they had run of the place. Which meant that they might very well have control over Amy.

He would have to get in quietly in order to do this quickly. He saw a fire escape going up the side of the building. Could he manage the energy to climb it? Cream had been right. He had taken a nasty hit from Gemeril. A frontal attack, even with chaos control, might not be possible. He better get up that fire escape. A short burst of chaos control got him up on the stair level and he climbed up quietly to the third floor. There he found a window. He pushed his back against the wall so he could see inside.

Two Egg Robos had Amy Rose held hostage much like the Rabbit family had been. It seemed that maybe Eggman was out for Sonic's friends, but if that was the case then why hold them in their homes? Bark had said Sonic himself was captured, so it seemed pointless to kidnap his friends.

He looked back in the window there in the floor near him was Amy's hammer. Not the best weapon for the job, but it would do. He felt his arm give a little. It would have to do. Gemeril had landed that laser after all. He began to fiddle with the window. Things would have to happen quickly and he wanted to maintain surprise. He found there was enough give in the track to force it open without shattering the glass.

He turned away to catch his breath and noticed a Chao watching him. Little Cheese was down at the bottom of the fire escape. The Chao propelled his way up and was soon next to Shadow. Cheese's eyes narrowed as his face opened in a smile.

Shadow put his finger to his lips. He wanted no distractions. Amy and the Egg Robos were facing the other direction, clearly anticipating action from the front door. Shadow lurched the window up to open it, but it came back down on his leg before he could clear it.

That noise attracted the two Egg Robos who turned around quickly. Amy, tied to a chair, could not move. She could still speak though.

"I told you my Sonic would come save me," she said to the Egg Robos. She then stuck her tongue out at them.

The Robos fired two shots at the still stunned Shadow. He had not expected this. Gemeril must have hit him harder than he thought. Shadow rolled over to dodge the shots and reach Amy's hammer. With all his might he swung the weapon into the air, turning it into a projectile that smashed the face of one Egg Robo.

Then he recovered himself and nimbly pulled the hammer out of the Robo's remains and jammed it into the other one's head. In midair, he thought he heard Cheese cry out and he turned briefly. He assumed it was nothing and smashed the Robo once more since there was no chance of hurting a flicky. Then Shadow fell to one knee, trying to use the hammer to support himself with the mallet end on the ground.

Amy still had her back to him, "I knew you'd come for me, Sonic. I never doubted."

Shadow heard the window slam. Someone else was in the room. Not Cheese, for he could not have gotten the window open.

"I also appreciate you coming Sonic. It has been awhile. Oh don't move, I am not interested in fighting you. I would just like something you have," came an East German (if Germany had been a thing in Sonic world) accent that Shadow could not place.

Shadow turned his head to the left and got view of his new adversary. He was thin and purple with a gun belt around his waist and some sort of cowboy hat on his head. Shadow attempted to rise with Amy's hammer but the stranger was too quick. He bounded over to Amy and shoved a gun into her head.

"Now, hedgehog. Here are my terms. You give me your precious Chaos emerald, and I will give you your pink hedgehog friend here. Time's wasting and I have an itchy trigger finger," said the purple figure.

Shadow paused. He was now upright with the hammer firmly in his grip.

"You're thinking, can I use my trademark speed to knock him down before he pulls the trigger. I assure you, you cannot. Even if you were to stop time, the bullet would still enter her brain before you could disarm me," said the purple figure.

Shadow retrieved Rouge's emerald and threw it to the stranger. He then prepared to move against the stranger while he was catching the emerald, but the stranger kicked the chair with Amy in it into him. Then the stranger ran out of the door.

Shadow dropped the hammer to catch Amy's chair, which he did with a plop on the floor with Amy looking up at him based on the way he had caught her chair.

"You're not Sonic," said Amy, surprised.

Shadow undid her ropes and slid the chair to the floor. When Amy had recovered and gotten up, Shadow leaned back to lay on the floor looking at the ceiling above. The pink ceiling. He had ignored the decorations of the room up to now. There were pictures of Amy everywhere, and he realized he was lying on a heart shaped rug.

"No. Do you know who that purple guy was?" asked Shadow from the floor.

"No, I have never seen him before," said Amy, still wishing Sonic were there.

"Well, can you help me up? We need to return to Tails and Cream and get you to safety," said Shadow.

"There are still motobugs out there," pointed out Amy.

"I'm fine. We can take them," said Shadow.

Amy helped Shadow to his feet, but the dark hedgehog was unsteady as he put an arm over her shoulders to balance.

"Are you sure you're okay?" asked Amy, sounding more concerned.

"I think so, if we can get to the fire escape," said Shadow in a few breaths.

"What's that?" said Amy.

"Just a wound from earlier. It will heal fast enough," said Shadow.

"No, I mean that dart in your tail," said Amy.

Shadow and Amy stopped. He had not been aware of a dart. It would explain his sluggishness if he had been drugged and the stranger's confidence that he would not reach him before Amy was shot. He winced as he wiggled his tail. He could not reach it himself.

"No, you're not going anywhere until I get that dart out of you and you've rested," said Amy.

"Can't stay here," Shadow was having a harder time forming coherent thoughts.

"I may not be Rouge, but I can take care of injured people just as well," said Amy. "Maybe better."

"Too dangerous," said Shadow with his voice giving out.

"Well you aren't going anywhere else," said Amy. She led him out of the main room with its dressers and into her bedroom where Shadow slumped over the bed.

"First I am going to get that dart out. Hold on, it might hurt," said Amy. She then proceeded to yank the dart out of his tail. A massive wave of pain went through the hedgehog, but he was too tired to make a sound. Amy then helped in him into bed and left to make him a compress.

He found it difficult to relax. Yet the drugs weren't giving him much choice. He had almost drifted off when the window slammed shut again in the other room. He could hear voices but there was nothing he could do in his condition.

"What are you doing here, Tails?" he heard Amy's voice.

"I brought Gemeril to help Shadow, Cheese warned us there was trouble," said Tails.

"Gemeril? You mean?" asked Amy.

"Hi mom," answered Gemeril.

"Shadow's in the other room. Tails, where is Sonic?" asked Amy.

"I don't know. We think he might be captured. Eggman seems to be targeting the rest of us too. At least we think he is. Shadow and I have been trying to figure out for GUN," said Tails. "Gemeril, stay with Amy. I'll find Shadow."

Within moments, Tails had entered the room. Shadow tried to keep his eyes open. "Why are you here?" asked the hedgehog.

"I fixed Gemeril and Cheese said you were in trouble. Vanilla and Cream are waiting outside," said Tails.

"Told you to stay back," said Shadow.

"Yes you did. However Gemeril and I can handle ourselves pretty well. What happened to you?" asked Tails.

"Gemeril hit me harder than I thought. Got drugged by purple weasel sort of guy, had to trade chaos emerald for Amy's safety," said Shadow. "We have got to get to GUN HQ, only safe place for the others."

"For the time being, I suggest we stay here. Gemeril and I can bring Cream and Vanilla to the window without fighting the Badniks outside. They don't seem particularly interested in beating on the door. Now about this weasel guy, you remember anything else about him?" asked Tails.

"He carried a gun. He wanted chaos emerald but not me or Amy. He had one tooth bigger on one side," said Shadow.

Tails grinned, "You've never been around this much pink before have you?"

Shadow attempted to glare at Tails but nothing emerged but a smile. He fell asleep.

Tails left the room and took Gemeril down the fire escape to go get Cream and Vanilla. Once everyone was together they gathered in the main room of Amy's apartment and Amy made tea after she applied the compress to Shadow's face.

Shadow did not know what was happening in the other room. He was having a halting sleep in his mind. He tossed and turned. What was it? What was he seeing?


	6. Chapter 6

He could make a friendly face and a smile under a white mustache. Shadow looked around this dream world he was thinking of. He was back on the ARK, and he could see the Earth far below him in his glorious blueness.

"You see Shadow, the world is not a simple place. I want you to understand that people are basically good, but sometimes they infect their goodness with pain or greed. To do right in such a world means to move beyond desires such as these. Every situation has context, and to respond best, you must know what the context is. If you act without knowing the context, you cannot prevail you can only punish," said the voice.

"Professor Gerald?" questioned Shadow.

"Punishment is a dangerous road that can lead places we did not intend," said the voice of Gerald Robotnik.

"So how do I find the context?" asked Shadow.

"Look at the evidence. ALL of the evidence. Don't get wrapped up in premade theories. The world behaves as it is, not like we wish it to be. Oddities may not be oddities. Accept all the information and you can move forward," said the voice Professor Gerald.

"All of the evidence…" murmured Shadow. The Ark and the Professor disappeared and Shadow was suddenly in a green field with pretty cherry blossoms blowing around. He ignored that part as he could see figures forming out of the blossoms. One was Bark, one was the GUN Commander, one was Tails, and another was Amy.

"You are a mercenary. The Doctor does not use mercenaries, he uses his own robots to achieve his ends," said Shadow to the form of Bark. "Also the Doctor has never captured Sonic the Hedgehog but once and he immediately tried to kill him that time. He would not hold Sonic captive."

"And you," said Shadow turning to the GUN Commander. "You said the President was not attacked, which means all the invaders wanted was the supercomputer. They used it to send robots to various points, but not all those points were locations of Sonic's friends. Nor did those robots make much effort to secure those areas once they were there."

"So that means they are looking for something," said Shadow as he turned toward Tails and Amy. "Except for that one guy who took the chaos emerald, none of the others showed any interest in Rouge's house when there was an emerald hidden there. They aren't looking for chaos emeralds, but they are looking for something related to Sonic's friends."

"I'm missing something, some piece of information I don't have yet," said Shadow, looking at Amy. "Only way to know for sure is to find the echidna."

"What?" asked Amy's voice.

Shadow began to regain consciousness. The drugs must be leaving his system. He felt himself moving. He was in a car. His eyes came full open. He was in a blanket laying over the knees of Vanilla, Cream, and Amy with his head in Amy's lap.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"You're in a car on the way to the GUN base," said Amy Rose. "It's good to see you awake."

"Hi Mr. Shadow, we were worried," said Cream.

"Where's Tails?" asked Shadow suddenly.

"He's driving the car," said Amy.

"Where did we get a car?" asked Shadow.

"Gemeril borrowed one. We weren't going to stay in my apartment forever," said Amy. "We have to find Sonic."

Shadow supposed it didn't matter if Gemeril had snuck out and stolen a car or if he, Tails, and Amy had fought their way out and gotten a car. They would get to GUN base quickly, and then Shadow could…could…but then he was out again succumbing to the warmness of the blanket.

He woke up for the second time in the medical ward. In the room with him was the GUN Commander sitting in the chair and Amy Rose sitting by the bed.

"I didn't know you cared," said Shadow.

"I don't. The two rabbits did not have much information that we could use. The fox is back at the computer to see if he can lick that virus and look for any enemy communications on Eggman's network. He's a determined kid, I'll give him that," said the GUN Commander. "So what have you got to report?"

"It's not the Doctor. The pattern is all wrong. Someone is controlling his robots, yes, but they are not after Sonic or his friends but something connected to them," said the black hedgehog.

"The chaos emeralds?" asked the GUN Commander.

"No, they did not target Rouge's house. I don't know what they are after, but I don't think they are a direct threat to GUN," said Shadow.

"What about the weasel guy?" asked Amy.

"Yeah, some purple weasel guy IS after chaos emeralds. He avoided the robots though, so he's not connected to that. He had a gun and a hat," said Shadow. "Shot me with some sort of tranquilizer dart."

"Fang the Sniper. Jewel thief and mercenary at times for the right price. We once considered making him an agent but we hired Rouge instead. Didn't like his connection to Eggman," said the GUN Commander.

"Why is he called the sniper if he carries a pistol?" asked Amy.

"Who knows, naming conventions for private operatives are like advertising. Now Shadow, just because you say GUN is not the target does not mean that I am going to reduce the defenses around the government center of the city. The president's life is more important than you being right or wrong right now," said the GUN Commander.

"Just be careful about declaring martial law," said Shadow.

"Martial law? Shadow the Hedgehog, you know I believe in civil command over the military," said the GUN Commander.

"Sometimes I wonder," answered Shadow.

"I don't have to listen to this. If you have some paranoid fantasies, fine. Just don't involve GUN in them," said the GUN Commander and he got up from his seat and walked out of the room leaving Shadow and Amy alone.

"That was harsh," said Amy.

"Perhaps, but if the Doctor is not calling the shots, then someone is. No one has better access than the GUN Commander to pull off something like this," noted Shadow.

"You don't really believe that," calmly answered Amy.

"Why not?" questioned Shadow.

"Because you would not have brought us here if you did," said Amy.

"Maybe you're right," said Shadow. He noted for the first time an IV bag hanging on a roller next to his bed. He could feel his alien blood stimulated and working to heal him. Only GUN had that drug, and if he was a threat, the Commander would not have given it to him.

"So what happens now?" asked Amy. "How do we find Sonic?"

"We need to talk to the echidna. There are Eggman robots on the island and we need to find out what they are doing," said Shadow, suddenly impatient.

"You're not in any shape to do that," noted Amy.

"I'm not dead. I'm getting better," said Shadow.

"Still, Tails and I should go. You need to continue to get rest. I will send Cream to watch over you," said Amy, getting up.

"That's really not necessary…" started Shadow, but Amy was gone. About two seconds later Shadow found a blue mass sitting on his chest and smiling at him. Cream and Cheese had come in. The little Chao smiled gleefully for moment and then snuggled on top of Shadow's blanket on top of Shadow's chest. Soon the cooing noises of a sleeping Chao could be heard. The hedgehog was too confined to resist and fell back asleep himself.

Shadow awoke when he felt the weight of the Chao gone from his chest. He looked at the little rabbit sitting on the chair rocking her legs under the chair. She was looking out the door as if something was happening.

"What is happening?" asked Shadow.

"Oh, Mr. Shadow, you're awake again. Mr. Tails and Mr. Commander are having an argument outside with Ms. Amy out there too," said Cream.

"What are they saying?" asked Shadow.

"Mr. Commander wanted to know why they had not brought back either Mr. Knuckles or the Master Emerald. Mr. Tails told him that the robots were more interested in the snow caves of Angel Island and Mr. Knuckles refused to come since they had made no attempt on the Master Emerald," said Cream. "It woke up Cheese."

Not going after the Emerald on Angel Island. That fit into Shadow's idea that it was not Eggman running this thing. So what was so special about the ice caves? The shrine and sanctuary were decorated in iconography, but not the caves. At least Professor Gerald had said that, some fifty years ago.

He yanked the blanket off his arm and it flew on top of Cheese, who was only hovering a few feet away. He got out of the bed, but remembered the IV. He grabbed the rolling rack with the bag on it and headed toward the door. Cream opened it for him even though there was fear in her eyes.

He ignored her and rolled down the hallway toward the main room. He got there and it seemed everyone was surprised to see him.


	7. Chapter 7

"Agent Shadow…" started the GUN Commander.

"Tails, did you find anything at Angel Island?" asked the hedgehog.

"No, Shadow, we didn't. The robots weren't after Knuckles, rather they were in the ice caves," said Tails.

"What is in those caves?" asked Shadow.

"Spikes, boulders, a snowboard track, nothing interesting," said Tails.

"There must be something in those caves," said Shadow.

"What would it be? It's not chaos emeralds or one of our friends," said Amy Rose.

"It probably wouldn't do us much good to search the caves, they would have large numbers in a confined space," noted the GUN commander.

"Then where do we go next? We have to find Sonic!" said Tails.

"What about Big in the Mystic Ruins?" asked Amy.

"They are not after him, we need to go to a place that isn't associated with one of Sonic's friends," said the black hedgehog.

"Then there's the Frog Forest near Metropolis. It's close to Eggman and a place that robots were sent to. Maybe we could find something there?" suggested Tails.

"Agreed. I will head out to Frog Forest," said Shadow.

"What about your health?" asked Amy, noting the IV line that Shadow was still wearing.

"I just needed sleep, I feel fine," he answered. "Tails, if you could help get the GUN computer back to normal function so I can call for backup."

"I'm coming too," said Amy.

"Little lady, I'm not sure that's a good idea," said the GUN Commander.

"Look, he's not 100%. I can't stand this waiting around while my Sonic could be in danger. Besides you just let me go to Angel Island with Tails," said Amy.

"That was because you were likely to run into the Echidna for help," said the GUN Commander.

"Well, now I am going to help Shadow," said Amy. "Are you ready, Shadow?"

"As soon as I get this IV out," said Shadow. "But the Commander is right, you would be safer here."

"So would you," said Amy, gripping her hammer as if she was ready for action.

"Frog Forest is not too far away. Take one of the motorcycles, one of the special ones," noted the GUN Commander.

So Shadow found himself on the open road heading to Frog Forest. He was on a GUN motorcycle with Amy clinging to his waist. She was wearing a gray GUN motorcycle helmet that did not particularly go with her normal color palette.

The Forest was on the road to Metropolis, it was located near an advanced train station base that Eggman had abandoned when Metal Sonic had turned on him that time. No one had much occasion to go there. It was inhabited by giant frogs with strange powers. The forest only existed at all because some frogs summoned rain. The other frogs summoned poison rain. Without the frogs, the area would be as dry and dusty as Eggman's old train base.

Shadow slowed the motorcycle as the forest came into view. No signs of Badniks, but it was a big forest. He stopped the motorcycle and Amy got off. Shadow then hid the cycle in a pile of ferns and then tapped his bracelet. It was time to see if his faith in Tails was justified.

"GUN base, come in," said Shadow.

Static. More Static. Then finally, "This is Tails, what is it, Shadow?"

"Arrived at Frog Forest, no sign of hostiles. Do you have a radar picture of where they are. One could easily get lost in this forest," said Shadow.

"Sure thing. Looks like the robots are massed at the east exit of the Forest, closest to Eggman's castle base," said Tails.

"Will investigate, Shadow out," said Shadow.

"Would that be the same castle that Cream and I explored twice?" asked Amy.

"Yes," said Shadow.

The black hedgehog began making his way through the forest. It was a mess of clearings and canopies. What could be in here, he wondered. Not a chaos emerald, he knew that much. Surely a bunch of frogs. Shadow could hear their croaks in the distance. The rustling of leaves also suggested the frogs were moving around the underbrush.

Then Amy squealed.

Shadow turned to find that she was looking at something to his right in a clearing. He approached and discovered the remains of a Golden Egg Pawn. Shadow bent over to examine the damage. It was shattered by a hail of gatling gun bullets. No GUN units would be in the forest, this could only be the work of one person: E-123 Omega. Shadow released a bit of a smile, he would not mind finding Omega in this forest.

"There's another one, Shadow!" said Amy. She pointed to a trail of Egg Pawn and Egg Hammer remains. This made sense. There had been troops throughout the forest. Before the radar was functional, Omega must have found them.

"It's okay, it's only Omega," said Shadow to Amy.

"He really did a number on them," said Amy. "Are you sure he won't do something similar to us?"

"He only hates the Doctor. He is a friend," said Shadow.

The terrain started to lose elevation and Shadow assumed they must be getting close to the swamp that bordered the eastern exit. The last time he had been here, there had been that huge crocodile that had pursued them out of the forest. They would have to be careful crossing the swamp. Shadow identified the huge lily flowers as big enough to get across.

"We'll have to jump across," said Shadow.

"Okay," said Amy.

The two landed on a big lily flower. Shadow broke off a stick and used it to steer the flower like a boat. For the first time he noted how well he had recovered. He was not 100%, but he was close. The flower boat made good progress, better progress than Shadow expected. It was nearing the far shore of the swamp when it was flipped into the air. Amy fell out first and the crocodile head surfaced. She would land right in inside the gaping jaws. She pawed the air for some kind of escape.

Shadow braced himself against the flower in midair and then fired over to where was Amy was falling. He caught her and then chaos controlled them both over to the shore. He deposited her on the ground and then returned to the edge of the swamp. He knew the crocodile would not be stopped by the water's edge.

This was not the time to be caught without a chaos emerald, Shadow mused. He thought over his options. His chaos powers were not much without an emerald. He could keep it distracted for a time. Amy could get away, at least.

"Run for it," said Shadow as he braced himself for his next jump. The crocodile was under the water, but he would not stay there forever. It surfaced like a massive whale breaching out of the brackish water.

Amy grabbed her hammer. She shook her head. She would not leave him.

Shadow had no time to argue with her. The crocodile was coming and she had no way to really hurt the beast. He had to meet it in the water to keep her from harm. He warped onto the croc's back. It became to flop around to get him off, despite Shadow being like a flea. Shadow summoned his strength, he had to get to the creature's head and put out its eye. That would cause the reptile to be blinded and buy some time to get out of there.

Then Shadow paused as the crocodile's head jerked as if something had hit him in the eye. Shadow did not question it but warped up to the crocodile's face and kicked his other eye. The crocodile roared its displeasure and began flopping around to deal with the pain. It looked like it was about to submerge. Shadow jumped off the croc and landed on the beach. He saw Amy's face. She was genuinely shocked. The croc could have exploded and she would have made the same face.

"How did you do that?" asked Amy.

"Not alone, I assure you," said Shadow. He stuck his leg out as if to trip somebody, and out of the nothingness fell a purple form who been invisible just a moment ago. It caught itself on the ground before standing up.

"Espio? What are you doing here?" asked Amy.

"And why have you been following us?" asked Shadow.

"Nice to see you too. Seems you needed my help," said the Chaotix member as he brushed himself.

"That doesn't explain why you are here," said Shadow.

"Espio, there have been many strange things going on. We are trying to find Sonic, and you might know something," said Amy.

"Oh don't worry, we're not working for Eggman again. We got a contract from the GUN Headquarters to report any movements of frogs out of this forest. Vector assumed that poachers must have been selling the rain frogs or something. Anyway when all these robots showed up, Vector and Charmy went to ask GUN what to do about it, but I doubt they got in contact or else they would be back by now," said Espio.

"When did GUN give you this contract?" asked Shadow.

"About a day ago, why?" asked Espio.

"The GUN supercomputer was hacked about a day ago. Whoever gave you that contract was not GUN. They are also likely the people controlling Eggman's robots. They may also have Sonic and Rouge," said Shadow.

"Guess they won't pay then. Vector won't like that. Good thing I decided to follow you then. You might need a ninja," said Espio.

"Agreed," said Shadow. "Give me a moment."

Espio looked at Amy, "He brought you along?"

Amy nodded.

"Unusual, Charmy would have killed for that chance," said Espio.

"Tails, this is Shadow," said the hedgehog into his bracelet.

"Hey Shadow, what's up?" asked Tails over the communications network.

"Have you been able to find all the orders that the GUN computer sent out?" asked Shadow.

"Yes, it was mainly to Eggman's robots, but there were some mercenary hires," said Tails.

"Including the Chaotix?" asked Shadow.

"Yes, actually. It looks like they were sent to Frog Forest. Do you see them?" asked Tails.

"We have Espio right here, he claims to be looking for frogs by order of GUN," said Shadow.

"Yes, his contract has him on the alert for frogs, however it wasn't a GUN contract," said Tails.

"I know that. That seem odd to you?" asked Shadow.

"It's possible that the villain in question merely wants to capture the frogs to use their rain powers. Everything else would be a distraction, even their strike here," said the voice of the GUN Commander.

"Tails, did you isolate the virus?" asked Shadow.

"Yes," said the voice of Tails.

"Where was it made?" asked Shadow.

"It's an Eggman virus from his lab in Metropolis," said Tails.

"Commander, permission to take down Metropolis," said Shadow.

"I thought you said it wasn't Eggman?" asked the Commander.

"I still don't think it is. But whomever it is set up shop in Metropolis," said Shadow.

"I can't risk the army on such a gamble. I'll clear you to infiltrate Metropolis, but if you go in you go in alone," said the Commander.

"He's not going alone," said Amy. She and Espio had snuck up to eavesdrop on the radio conversation between Shadow and Tails.

"It's best. I am not a team player," said Shadow. He turned to look at Espio and Amy with a smug look.

"You got that right," said the GUN Commander.

"Maybe, but you would not have defeated the crocodile without me," said Espio.

"Or gotten better from your wounds without me," said Amy Rose.

"Or gotten this computer working without me," came Tails' voice from the receiver in the bracelet.

"If you are willing to throw away your lives, I can't stop you. My only aim in life was to bring hope to humanity. If you choose to be there with me on that final field, then I welcome you. Just know that I was the ultimate life form, Shadow the Hedgehog," said Shadow.


	8. Chapter 8

"I'll be right there. You guys are at the eastern exit, right?" said Tails' voice.

"Wait, you're going too? What about the computer?" asked the Commander.

"My friends need me," said Tails.

"Well I suppose the pink one might need aid, but…" objected the Commander.

"You heard me," said Tails. "I'm going."

"Wait, at least…" but the Commander's voice went dead with the communications link.

"So, do we go? Tails won't be able to land here and there is a clearing to the east," said Espio.

"Yes. I know that Amy wants to help Sonic, but this is not your fight, Espio. Your Chiaotix brethren will need you," said Shadow, looking into the distance.

"Since when did you care about others? If you are right then the world could fall to darkness from a madman with all of Eggman's tools. My ninja skill is worth more to you than a frog scavenger hunt with Vector and Charmy. There is one thing I don't understand. One does not simply walk into Metropolis," said Espio.

"I have given that some thought," said Shadow. He motioned for them to follow. Espio let Amy go first and then followed along behind her. There was a clearing and it was full of Egg Hammer parts. In the middle, sitting on a pile of Egg Pawns was E-123 Omega with his arms crossed. One could easily mistake his pose for meditation.

"Omega?" asked Espio.

The robot's eyes blinked on and his head turned towards them. Espio moved to the front with Shadow and both looked to shield Amy. Omega was built on Eggman tech, and it was possible that he was hacked as well. Though the corpses would have been hard to figure out if that was the case.

"Shadow the Hedgehog: Friend. Long time no see," said Omega.

"Omega, we are going to Metropolis. Are you interested?" asked Shadow.

"Nothing would please me more than the destruction of that place," said Omega.

"Then you shall have your chance, friend. We need only wait for Tails," said Shadow.

"Tracking…tracking…small plane inbound. Designation: Tornado. Owner: Sonic the Hedgehog. Irritant value to Eggman: Incalculable," said Omega as the small plane emerged on the horizon.

"He's right! It is Tails!" said Amy, waving at the plane.

Tails landed on the strip of bare ground avoiding the piles of bodies. He noticed the gang had grown. He had not expected to see Omega and had not really expected Espio to stick around.

"Well, okay, Tails is here. But his plane is going to give us away like a sore thumb. Besides I don't see any weapons on it," said Espio.

"Oh, I'll show you," said Tails and he pressed a button. All of the sudden, the plane became a mech. "GUN helped me upgrade the plane to be like the Tornado 2. Check out that sweet cannon on the front."

"Well, let's not forget we need to retrieve Sonic in one piece," said Amy.

"Oh, Shadow, the commander sent this for you," said Tails. He threw an object down from his cockpit that the hedgehog caught with both hands.

"It's a prototype rifle. It brings down most targets with one shot. The ammo is limited, so be careful with it," said Tails.

"Whose idea was that?" asked Espio.

"Mine," said Tails, blushing a little.

"Good work, Tails," said Shadow. He adjusted his hold on the gun so it was safetly pointed away from anyone.

"Good. Bad. He's the guy with the gun," sighed Amy.

"Enough with presents. What is the plan?" asked Omega.

"We need to make an insertion into the Metropolis prison. We won't be able to do that without a distraction. Omega, that is your job. Plenty of Eggman robots to shoot at. Once we reach the prison, then Espio and I will head for the brain center to confront and apprehend whoever is behind this. Then hopefully we can all go home," said Shadow.

"Just give me the chance to annihilate," said Omega.

"The entrance to Metropolis is to the north. The only entrance we can get to will be the front door and we won't make it there by sundown," said Tails.

"Then we should camp closer to the city than here," said Espio. "Attacking at dawn will maximize the surprise."

So they headed up toward the entrance of Metropolis. There was Tails in his mech, Shadow with his rifle, Amy with her hammer, Omega, and Espio with a ninja star. Tomorrow would see them attacking the capital city of Eggman himself to free Sonic, Rouge, and stop whatever devious scheme was in motion.

They set up camp in some trees. Metropolis was two miles down the road. Tails parked his mech and started a fire. Shadow put his gun by the mech. Amy prepared some food that Tails had brought in the mech. She shared her stew with Tails, Espio, and Shadow. Then Espio climbed a tree and went to sleep while Shadow and Tails both made beds of leaves and fell asleep. Amy put out the fire and made her own bed. Omega was left on guard duty. The robot needed no sleep.

Amy tossed and turned in the night, the anticipation of the next day becoming too much for her. Eventually she gave up and flopped onto her back with her arms spread wide and looked at the stars. In the moonlight she could see the others sleeping and the moonlight glinting off of Omega's back. She had forgot about Omega.

She sat up and then rose to her full height. She walked quietly toward Omega and looked up at the stars next to the robot. Omega turned his briefly then and returned it when he had seen who it was.

"Hi, Omega, do you know me?" asked Amy.

"Subject: Amy Rose. Species: Hedgehog. Relation to Eggman: Irritant and occasional blackmail target," said Omega.

"Hey, I'm not that irritating. Besides I knew a robot like you once. I think its name was Gamma. It was a nice robot. It let me out of Eggman's prison," said Amy.

"Subject: E-102 Gamma. Records: Awarded the Order of the Eggman Empire for frog recovery. Deactivated in the Egg Carrier crash near Station Square. Model used as basis for remainder of the E-100 series robots," said Omega.

"No, that's not right. Gamma's flicky was the mother of the little bird I protected. Gamma did not help Eggman," said Amy.

"Eggman records could have bias toward Eggman. Possible that they are missing information," said Omega.

"Omega, if Gamma had a flicky and all the E-100 robots that followed were based on that design, does that mean that you have a flicky too?" asked Amy.

"Possible. Confirmation would require deactivation of unit Omega. I have no desire to do that, at least not as long as Eggman lives," said Omega.

"It must be lonely to live only thinking of revenge," said Amy. "Is that why you are friends with Shadow?"

"I was built to be the ultimate robot, he was built to be the ultimate lifeform. It was a link that we share in common. We understand each other. Or maybe it was because my design was enhanced to defeat him. That was the wish of Eggman, and I have no wish to follow that directive," said Omega.

"You were designed to defeat Shadow? Does he know?" asked Amy.

"Hard to say. Shadow did not know himself when I first met him. In that way he was like me, learning new things from those around him. He had to repair his memory in order to defeat Black Doom. My files tell me that you were important to helping Shadow find himself before he fell from space. It is a shame that the gains he made were lost to amnesia," said Omega.

"Why did you not tell Shadow any of this?" asked Amy. She remembered Shadow not having a clear picture of who she was when they met outside the Cryptic Castle.

"His ID as the original was not 100% at the time. I also was more focused on Eggman than the Black Arms. It may have been a mistake," said Omega. "You should return to recovery mode. In a few hours you will need it."

"Alright. Thanks, Omega," said Amy and she wandered back to her leaf bed and tried to go back to sleep.

The next morning, the troop headed off for Metropolis. Despite their closeness, the road was clear. It was almost as if they were being invited in by the opposition. As if they could go straight down the main drag of the industrial city.

"This makes no sense. There should be someone waiting for us. A Buzz Bomber at least," said Espio.

"The front door is the most efficient way to destroy more robots," noted Omega.

"Agreed, this may become a stealth mission, but right now this is not disadvantageous to us," said Shadow. "Omega, you may begin the game when you are ready."

E-123 Omega strode into the front gate of Metropolis. Inside he saw a number of crabmeats, motobugs, buzz bombers, slicers, Egg Pawns, Egg Hammers, and E-1000 series models. After a quick look around, the menagerie began to move toward him in the dusty street of the rusty city.

"Worthless consumer models…" muttered Omega as he began missile barrage before turning his arms into gatling guns and wiping holes the advancing Egg minions. Behind he left a trail of newly freed animals.

"Okay, we begin our run now," said Shadow.

Espio and Amy climbed up on Tails' mech. Shadow ran point with his new rifle. Omega had drawn the attention of many of the Badniks, but the guards were still in front of the various buildings. To get down the street to the prison would require passing three other guarded buildings.

Shadow shot down the first two Egg Robo guards in front of the first building. Then Shadow noticed incoming balkiries. The two bird-like creatures fell down with ninja stars buried in them. Espio had left the mech and joined Shadow on the ground.

"You can always use a ninja," said Espio.

"Yes, and we need to clear out four more Egg Robos," said Shadow. "Tails, we need to get these Badniks off our trail. Any ideas?"

"I could put the mech on autopilot," said Tails. "Maybe some of them would chase it."

"That's losing a big asset," said Espio.

"We have to remember the bigger mission. Bending Sonic's plane a little is not much of a loss as far as I'm concerned," said Shadow. "Do it, Tails. Get Amy down here and we will make a run for the prison."

The mech started to run in somewhat random directions shooting at whatever targets appeared. It did get the Egg Robos to pursue it as well as other balkiries to attack in its direction. Meanwhile, the foursome ran down the road to the prison wall. Espio etched a door outline with a throwing star. Amy then pounded the door down with her hammer.

The sound echoed through the prison chamber. The complex was large and the place where they had cut in was not the floor where Sonic was being held. Shadow now turned to the group.

"This is where we split up. Amy, your job is to liberate the prison. Tails, your job is to get to the rooftops and guide me and Espio to the control center. Even Omega will not last forever, so we need to move quickly and now stealthily," said Shadow.


	9. Chapter 9

The team nodded and went their separate ways. Amy grabbed her hammer as the other three went out the door. She girded up her courage for the prison was poorly lit. She headed down one stair and peered around the corner. A couple of motobugs was all she could see. Must not be the right floor.

She went down one more stair and this time she saw a E-1000 robot on guard duty. She braced herself to get ready for the jump she would need to get a decisive first swing. The she jumped. The E-1000 robot turned its gun at her and fired. Her hammer came down on the gun at the same time.

Disarmed, the E-1000 robot offered its shield to stop the hammer blows. Amy double jumped over the robot and slammed her hammer into the other side of the robot, taking its head off. It crumpled on the ground and a rabbit jumped out and away.

This hallway was much better lit that the ones above it. She could see something in the cells furthest from the exit. It was a lumpy fellow. She got closer and could see Dr. Eggman snoozing in a cell. Across from him was Rouge's cell. She was also asleep but she looked more unnaturally so. One cell over from hers was…Sonic's.

Amy started banging away at the lock, which should have woken up anyone in the vicinity. She cried Sonic's name as she hacked away.

"He can't hear you, you know," said the voice of Eggman from behind her.

"He's okay, isn't he? If you did anything to him…" Amy began to shake her hammer.

"Oh he's fine. Just drugged. They figured it would prevent him escaping. Smart move on their part," said Eggman. "Of course I wish they had not locked me up too. World domination is my thing after all. I must say, you are the last person I expected to see here."

"Who are they?" asked Amy Rose.

"You don't need to know. Have a nice nap, Ms. Rose," said Eggman. Three forms appeared as Amy collapsed on the floor.

Tails hid among the stacks and outputs on the roof of a building. He could see rising clouds of smoke where he assumed Omega was still hunting. Some streets leading from the Eggman head shaped headquarters were loaded with Badniks. Other buzz bomber patrols zoomed above.

"This is Tails," said Tails into his watch. "I've got a route through some alleys. Take the first alley and then go left, left, and then right. I'll rejoin you from the top of that building."

Shadow and Espio moved carefully through the buildings. They could hear the rumblings of motobugs and others on the main roads. They had made it to just across from the Eggman headquarters. They were hiding in the shadow of the building across the street.

"There's no other way in that I can see from up here," said Tails' voice on the bracelet.

"Looks like a bunch of slicers standing guard outside the door," said Espio.

"I'll handle this," said Shadow, patting his gun.

"You think I would let you have all the fun here?" muttered Espio.

The two charged out of the dark and Shadow unloaded five rounds into the first five slicers he saw. Espio jumped on a building to dodge slicer fire. Shadow then homing attacked one and then fired the rifle to take down five more. The way was clear.

Tails landed from above and pushed the door open. He and Shadow ran inside and closed the door behind him. Shadow pulled a bench over from the side of the room to secure the door. Now they were in the belly of the beast.

"Where's Espio?" asked Tails.

"He was right there. He must still be out there," said Shadow.

"Should we go back and get him?" asked Tails.

"The best thing we can do for him now would be to stop the robots with the Eggman's computer. He can take care of himself or hide, he's good at that," said Shadow. He fired two rounds at Egg Robos that had just come into the foyer.

"You can't have many shots left on that thing," said Tails.

"I don't. Three shots left," said Shadow.

"I wonder how Amy is doing," said Tails.

"Only one way to find out, finish the job," said Shadow.

Shadow and Tails headed down a long hallway, looking around them for enemies. Finally they reached a metal door with an access panel and two guards. Shadow shot the two E-1000 robots that were guarding the door. Then he started feeling the door for weaknesses.

Tails went up to the keypad, but noted that it required not a code but an electronic signal. Tails looked back at the E-1000 robot. Could it be just hat easy? While Shadow began kicking the door to open it, Tails dragged the still flickering robot to the terminal and inserted the robot's finger into the receptacle. The door opened, and as it did, Shadow felt his gun knocked away from him by a blue blurr.

"Metal Sonic!" said Tails as the machine circled back into the center of the room. The control room was not dissimilar from the GUN supercomputer room though it was much better lit. The floors were pearly off white. There was a control console in the back where Eggman would have been, but it looked like Orbot was operating the controls. Cubot was nearby to assist.

"Metal Sonic. Are you behind this?" asked Shadow as he braced for a fight.

"Hear that? They think Metal Sonic did it," said Cubot. "That's funny."

"Well it makes certain sense if you've played Sonic Heroes," said Orbot.

"You can PLAY Sonic Heroes? What does that mean?" asked Cubot.

"Never mind. Just watch for the target, please," said Orbot.

At that moment the back wall burst open and a hole was made with the dusty light coming in from outside.

"Omega!" said Tails. If he had any doubts about taking on Metal Sonic with Shadow, they were now gone.

"Tell me where Eggman is," ordered Omega.

"He's not here. Now I have someone who will listen to my ideas and advice. Oh I miss the Doctor's sunny disposition, but I have not felt fulfilled like this in years," said Orbot.

A thunderous noise could be heard as the Egg Breaker entered the room. It stood next to Metal Sonic with its giant mace arm on the far hand. Then it tilted a little to reveal its cockpit.

"Illogical," said Omega.

"Is that…BIG THE CAT?" asked Tails. Sure enough it was the giant purple cat behind the controls of the Egg Breaker. Tails noted that he had some kind of helmet on generating something through an antenna. It clearly must be the way he was controlling Eggman's robots, which meant…Tails turned nervously toward Omega.

"Did you bring Froggy?" asked Big in an ominous voice.

"Froggy? Subject: frog. Connection: absorbed Chaos and captured by Gamma. Escaped Chaos VI. Threat value: minimal…" said Omega.

"Wait, Big. Did you attack Cream, Amy, Sonic, and the GUN Headquarters because you were looking for Froggy?" asked Tails.

"Froggy must be found. Those who would get in way must be destroyed," said Big.

"Something else is wrong here," said Shadow. "But between the three of us, we should still be able to take the Egg Breaker and Metal Sonic."

"Agreed," said Omega. Then he flashed for a moment and turned to Shadow and Tails and opened fire on them.

"He got to Omega. Big's helmet controls robots somehow. If I could get to it then the robots would stop listening to him," said Tails after dodging away. Shadow was a little further away also recovering from the surprise.

The hedgehog got up and looked at Omega. Oh he really did not want to hurt his friend, but he had no choice. Hopefully he could spare him in the end. He chaos controlled, but found that Omega blocked his attack. He tried it again. Omega's elbow prevented success. Then Omega head-butted Shadow, causing the hedgehog to fall to the ground in front of the robot. Omega then raised his flamethrower arm and fired. Shadow rolled away, but was still on the ground.

"Make them give back Froggy!" said Big in that deeper more evil voice.

Tails lifted off, hoping to make a beeline for Big's helmet. He was pushing his tails as fast as they would go, but he was getting no closer to the Egg Breaker. Then he looked down and realized why. Metal Sonic had his foot. He was being dragged down to the ground.

Shadow saw Metal Sonic make his move and he used his concentration to fire a chaos spear at the robot clone, but the movement also allowed Omega to pin him with both hands. The spear lessened the grip that Metal Sonic had as it hit his wrist and he let Tails go. Tails made his move toward the Breaker.

"This was my purpose, Shadow the Hedgehog. You are finished, if you attempt to Chaos control from here you will find I have neutralized that ability. Now, I must do as I was designed," said Omega, building up the power in his hands.

Tails lunged for Big but found only the mace hand of the Egg Breaker send him throttling back down to the floor. There Metal Sonic grabbed him and restrained him so he could see the end of Shadow and Omega's battle. "Shadow," whimpered Tails.

"Do it, old friend. I could not give you my best fight anyway. It's too bad it had to end like this. Rouge captured. Me dead. And you having betrayed the very things you had come to believe in. I have died once already for humanity to have hope. What will you kill me for? To help an insane cat look for a frog?" said Shadow.

Omega hesitated for a moment. The wheels were turning somewhere in his mind.

Suddenly there was a whir in the air. A ninja star sliced the helmet strap that held the device to Big's head. Then Espio appeared on the Egg Breaker itself and kicked off the helmet. The Breaker powered down. Orbot, Cubot, and Metal Sonic all flickered for a moment before coming back on. Omega did as well, releasing Shadow in the process.

Tails used the moment to break free and pounce on the helmet. It was broken, but he could see how it was intended to work. It generated magnetic fields and radio signals to override electronics. It was much like the powers of the Zeti from the Lost Hex. In fact that had to be it, Eggman must have been trying to replicate their powers. But how had it gotten on Big? Why had it turned Big crazy?

The Cat was being supported by Espio after tumbling out of the Egg Breaker. Omega and Shadow turned on Metal Sonic.

"I think it is time for us to get out of here," said Orbot.

"Yeah, I'm sure the boss is missing us," said Cubot.

Orbot fired up the Egg-O-Matic he was in and Cubot and then Metal Sonic climbed aboard. Omega aimed to shoot them down, but he could not get a clear shot as Metal Sonic tore a hole in the roof. After a shower of debris hit the white floor, Shadow and Omega joined Tails and Espio around Big.

"Shadow the Hedgehog, I am sorry," said Omega.

"Forget it," said Shadow.

"Forgotten," said Omega.

"What is wrong with the Cat?" asked Shadow.

"I'm not sure, but he does smell familiar," said Tails. "Having a hard time placing it."

"To think that all this time he wanted us to find his frog," said Espio.

"Where did you go, Espio?" asked Tails.

"To get Shadow inside, I had to distract the slicers outside. Once they were gone, I went invisible and came through that hole in the wall that Omega created. I was surprised that he was still fighting," said Espio.

"Inferior models cannot stop Omega," chimed in Shadow.

"I know this smell now. This is the mind control juice made from the Wisp energy. I thought we had destroyed this stuff, but it looks like some survived. Perhaps it too came from the Lost Hex," said Tails.

"So someone used mind control juice on Big to take over Eggman's robots? Who would do that?" asked Espio.

"I'm not sure, but I think we should check on Amy," said Shadow. "Tails, would you be okay with Big?"

"I can stay with Tails," said Espio. "What fun could there be in an empty prison anyway?"

"Then Omega and I will go find Amy and the others," said Shadow. He went and picked up his gun.


	10. Chapter 10

Back out in Metropolis, there was no resistance from Badniks. They seemed stuck in some kind of sleep mode or something. That did not stop Omega from deactivating them completely as he and Shadow walked by them. Motobugs or Egg Pawns did not matter to Omega.

The two approached the prison, which seemed as much at peace as any other building in Metropolis. The pair heard the creaking of metal, but it turned out to be the Tornado, still on autopilot, but splattered in dust and debris.

"Something's not right here," said Shadow.

"What makes you say that?" asked Omega.

"Any guards in the building would have been deactivated by the helmet. That should have been plenty of time for them to leave this place," he said.

"Where else would they go?" asked Omega.

"Good point," said Shadow. He put the barrel of his gun into the door and forced it open. The walls were smooth like Eggman's base but rust colored and dark. He signaled Omega in and then carefully walked toward the stairwell.

"Maximum security is on the third floor below this one. The prison is built into the ground to prevent escapes," said Omega.

"It seems we shared a place like this once," said Shadow.

"Affirmative," said Omega.

The pair moved down the stairs and headed down all the way to the third floor. They found the hallway and then found the cells. Omega flashed his wrist into a flood light. It fell on the sleeping form of Rouge and then Sonic. They were still in restraints.

Omega knocked Rouge's cell open. Shadow bent down and took her pulse. It was there. She was merely asleep after all. He looked up at Omega and nodded his head. Omega scrapped a piece off the floor and lit it on fire with his flamethrower hand. Shadow put the burning metal under Rouge's nose while maintaining his squat.

Rouge's nose became irritated and she began to come to. She looked up to see Shadow and Omega. "My boys, you came for me," she said.

"Let me break your bonds," said Omega, using his metal fingers to slice through the ropes.

"Did you get my message?" asked Rouge.

"Yes, but I lost the emerald," said Shadow.

"Oh Shadow, you're breaking this girl's heart. You got this far without a chaos emerald?" asked Rouge.

"Never mind that, what happened to you?" asked Shadow.

"Well, I was investigating the robot attacks. I came to Metropolis, thinking that Eggman must have been involved. I got to the control room where I was going to blow the controls, but then I saw the Cat calling the shots. While I tried to report, Metal Sonic hit me from behind. They must have drugged me, I still don't feel right. I hope you don't need my skills, boys…I can't lift my wings," said Rouge.

"Drugs…Amy. Where's the girl?" asked Shadow.

Omega shined his light on the ground outside the cells and a hammer appeared on the ground.

"They took her. Whoever they are," said Shadow. He stood up and looked at the staircase going down.

"The Doctor was in the cell next to mine. He's not there now," said Rouge weakly.

"Eggman was here," said Omega.

"Tails, this is Shadow, come in," said Shadow.

"Hi Shadow, did you find Amy?" asked Tails.

"No, we think the Doctor got her. However I do have Sonic and Rouge. How are things on your end?" asked Shadow.

"Eggman got her? That's not good. Big is recovering slowly. We have him sedated over here," said Tails.

"I recommend you move him to our location so you can watch over Rouge and Sonic. Omega and I are going after the Doctor," said Shadow.

"It might be tough, but there should be a forklift or something we could use. We'll do it, Shadow. Good luck and bring back Amy safe," said Tails.

"We are on it," said Shadow. "Rouge, I hate to leave you like this. Tails and Espio are on their way and they'll take care of you."

"You always were complicated. Will you wake up Sonic?" she asked.

"If he is anything like you then he won't be fit for combat. No, we'll let Tails figure it out," said Shadow. He picked up one of Rouge's former bonds and tied to Amy's hammer in two places so he could carry it on his back.

"The lower hangar is two levels down. That is the most likely spot," said Omega. "Farewell, Rouge."

Team Dark, so briefly reunited, separated again as Omega and Shadow worked their way down to the hangar. When they got there, they could see that the hangar was open. They also saw that they were not alone. Two forms could be seen on the brightly lit asphalt runway. One was circular while the other was triangular.

"Boss was right. We were followed," said the triangle. "Attack them, Bomb!"

Bomb made a rush at Shadow. Shadow dropped his gun and thwack Bomb with the hammer into the hand of Omega.

"Ammunition accepted," said Omega who then fired Bomb into the triangle. Bomb blew up and the two became nonfunctional, at least temporarily.

"Who were they?" asked Shadow.

"Subject: Heavy. Subject: Bomb. Employed as double agents of the Eggman Empire. Programming faulty: Never determined if they succeeded in their mission. Hypothesis: Said programming made them immune to robot control helmet," said Omega.

They heard an engine rev up in front of them. They made it into a hangar bay with an opening to the outside. Outside, the two looked up to see Eggman controlling a familiar looking device, or at least a familiar device to Sonic fans of the mid-nineties.

"What is that?" asked Shadow.

"Subject: Titan Metal Sonic. Believed destroyed. Also believed to be connected somehow to Metal Sonic. Hypothesis: This is not Metal Sonic," said Omega.

"That's right Shadow, this is the improved Mega Titan Metal Sonic. That Cat might have been a hindrance, but now I can use its power to grind you and Sonic to dust. Then I can reenergize my troops and take out GUN since they are more or less paralyzed from what I understand. This couldn't have gone better if I had planned it," said Eggman from the cockpit in the chest of his revamped red weapon.

"I thought you did plan it," said Fang the Sniper, emerging from behind the giant weapon with Amy in his grasp. His gun was targeted on her.

"Oh come now, Fang. Who's keeping score? Oh that's right, I am," laughed Eggman.

"Plan: ludicrous. To mind control Big the Cat into overthrowing Eggman Empire to confuse your enemies just so you could escape from prison to activate this weapon and take over anyway?" queried Omega, steam starting to form from his head.

"Ah, rebellious Omega, I knew you would understand me. Sadly it will be the last comprehension you ever make. You see I have Amy Rose, the friend of Sonic the Hedgehog, and you twerps won't do anything while I have her in my power," said Eggman.

"You're forgetting something," said Shadow.

"What's that?" said Eggman.

"I am not Sonic the Hedgehog," said Shadow. He drew Amy's hammer and flew at Fang. He managed to knock Fang away and snag Amy, placing her gently on the ground. Eggman fired a missile at Shadow but Omega intercepted it with gunfire, causing it to explode in midair.

"Shadow. Always one for the hard way. Well, today I will not refuse you because I really can't wait to try this Mega Titan Metal Sonic out on somebody," said Eggman. The Titan rose to its full height.

"Not so fast, Doctor. The hedgehog is mine. He and I have unfinished business," said Fang.

"Oh fine. I will put down my troubled child Omega while you deal with Shadow," said Eggman.

"I see you carry a gun. It's time for you to find out who is the king of the guns," said Fang as he drew his pistol.

Shadow fired his rifle, knocking away the pistol of Fang. Then he closed the difference and clubbed Fang with his rifle. Then he untied the rope from the hammer, causing it to fall from his back. He strung up the line over a light pole and tied Fang with it, keeping him suspended.

"Hail to the king, baby," said Shadow.

"I will be avenged," said Fang.

Omega was finding his duel with the Titan to be more difficult than he had calculated. The large robot hedgehog had a lot of shielding and was deflecting his shots. It also was keeping him on his toes and preventing him from launching his missiles.

"Enough, Omega. Play time is over," said Eggman. The Titan brought his claw down on Omega's body and pinned him down. "See, I told you that this would be your undoing. All those years trying to hunt me down for tossing you aside. In your final moments, I hope that you now understand why I didn't stop development with you."

Shadow warped in and laid a kick onto the arm restraining Omega, causing it to lose its grip. Shadow landed and Omega got up. Now able to attack both sides and divide Eggman's attention, the pair worked the Titan into a frenzy as it tried to keep up. Finally Shadow and Omega had each knocked off a separate arm. The Titan stood armless, but Eggman did not seem upset.

Shadow paused. Something was not right. "Tails, this is Shadow. We're outside the hangar on the bottom level. We may need help." Shadow cut off his communicator, not waiting for a response. He and Omega then attacked the legs and separated them.

"Good work, Shadow and Omega. However you should be getting tired or frustrated and you have not yet figured out the true power of this beast. Anyone could see that this form is the Titan Metal Sonic from before, just configured for me to control it. That model had the weakness of having its limbs knocked off as you have done," said Eggman.

"And?" said Omega.

"I know something that you don't know. Do you think I hired Fang to break me out of jail?" asked Eggman.

Shadow thought quickly to his encounter with Fang at Amy's. All Fang had wanted was the chaos emerald. They had not focused on the emeralds but on Eggman's robots. He must have the emeralds.

Eggman pressed a button and the limbs returned to the main body. Then he pressed another button and seven emeralds slotted into the robot body. The robot then changed color from red to yellow and began to radiate in energy.

"Yes, it is SUPER Mega Titan Metal Sonic!" said Eggman. "Now you cannot match my powers!"

"Hypothesis: Eggman has created his own Sonic fan character," said Omega.

"Oh it is better than that, Omega, I have created THE Sonic fan character," said Eggman.

"Any suggestions, Omega?" asked Shadow.

"Hypothesis: Every Eggman robot has a design flaw that is overlooked by Dr. Eggman," said Omega.

"Come now, Omega. Really, is that what you think of your creator? What is your flaw, then?" asked Eggman.

"Information: Classified," said Omega.

"Well, now. We can fight and I can destroy you or you two can just stand there and I can take my new unstoppable power to Central City itself and receive the President's surrender at his desk or at least the front lawn," said Eggman.

"Shadow…" came the weak voice of Amy Rose as she was bracing herself on her hammer in an attempt to get up.

"Okay, I have waited long enough. I am not going to give you time to flirt with Sonic's girlfriend. Get a load of this!" said Eggman has he began to charge toward Amy. Shadow warped to move her out of the way, but Eggman merely turned on Omega and laughed as the robot's gatling guns did nothing.

He was going to knock Omega over and ground him into the cement of the landing strip, but a blast disrupted him in midcharge. He took no damage from it, but it did have enough impact to move him backward.

Tails had reclaimed his mech and arrived with Espio, but not the others. Still recovering, Shadow decided. He held Amy in his arms and let the others distract Eggman. Espio attempted to find some weak spot on the robot body but got thrown off. Tails and Omega's combined firepower was enough to push him back, but do no more. The concussion of the fighting and the lack of circulation had knocked Fang out.

"Shadow, you know how to beat him," said Amy as Shadow laid her down carefully on the grass near the strip. She continued to grab her hammer.

"No, I don't," said Shadow.

"It's just like the first time you decided to be a hero. Do you remember?" asked Amy.

Eggman tried to cripple Tails' mech with an extended arm punch. Omega got between and caught the punch with his two hands and redirected away Tails. Espio appeared on Eggman's windshield, trying to block his view. Eggman tried to run into a light pole to get Espio off and the chameleon had to jump away.

"I do not remember this guy being this difficult the first time," said Espio, catching his breath on a light pole.

Shadow continued to kneel over Amy. The first time that he was a hero? That time she told him humanity was basically good and he took down the Biolizard? Wait that wasn't everything. The Biolizard had committed itself to the destruction of the ARK and the people of the Earth; it had fused with the ARK to cement the destruction. Sonic and he had gone to their super forms to defeat the beast. The power was so new but it was exhausting. With the Biolizard defeated, he fell to Earth drained of energy.

"I understand," said Shadow. He reentered the fight with two chaos spears, one from each hand and that attracted Eggman's attention for a second, but the Doctor really wanted Tails' mech and its big cannon out of the fight. He caught Tails making a slow turn and but his hands around the mech and ripped it in two, spilling Tails out in the process.

Shadow again fired a chaos spear at Eggman, but it was Omega that was now Eggman's next target. The plucky robot was beginning to run out of ideas. Espio tried some more ninja stars but they landed helplessly against the armor of the Titan.

Shadow got over to Tails, where the fox was a little stunned that his mech had failed. "Tails, this thing is basically like Super Sonic. It can only maintain this form as long as it has power just like our super forms are powered by rings. We have to keep it busy until it runs out of juice."

"That's a tall order, Shadow. If he gets a straight hit on any of us, you saw what it did to our mech," said Tails.

"I have an idea to slow it down. Can you carry me and Omega for ten seconds?" asked Shadow.

"Doubtful," said Tails.

"We have to try something," said Shadow.

"Your team move requires a chaos emerald that we do not have," pointed out Tails.

Omega overhearing the conversation summoned his power reserve energy to execute a giant laser blast that succeeded in bouncing Eggman backward a bit, but it left Omega staggered and he fell down and his eyes blinked off.

Shadow and Tails ran over to him. "Is he…" asked Shadow.


	11. Chapter 11

Tails removed a small panel and looked inside and then replaced it. "No, he is in stasis lock. He can maintain that for about twenty-four hours. After that his life functions will expire."

"Then go get Amy's hammer. We have a machine to drain," said Shadow. He fired two more chaos spears and then summoned his red chaos energy aura. Like Omega, he was not going to leave any power untapped.

Eggman saw the challenge. "Now there's the Shadow the Hedgehog I remember. Good show, Shadow, but you better make it count."

Shadow prepared more chaos spears. If he had even a single emerald he could have tried a chaos blast. He began flinging them at Eggman as the Titan barreled toward him swinging. Then it stopped for a second.

Tails had hit the windshield with Amy's hammer. It had done nothing, but it did distract Eggman. Tails tried to fly away, but the Titan grabbed him and flung him to the ground. Hitting the cement, Tails bounced painfully, ending up in the grass near Amy.

Shadow was close to losing his cool. Eggman had hurt or tried to hurt Amy, Tails, and Omega. Now it was just him and Espio trying to drag out this fight as long as possible. Espio repeated his move where he clung to the windshield until Eggman brushed him off with the Titan's arm for a second time.

"It feels so good to take a swing at you Chaotix," said Eggman.

"Because of that time you stiffed us? Or the time you captured us?" asked Espio.

"Trust me, I have unresolved anger toward most characters in this universe," said Eggman.

Shadow tried to do the math in his head. He could barely maintain his transformation for five minutes the first time. He was also much smaller than the Titan. This battle felt like it taken forever already.

"Espio, how long did it take you to beat this guy the last time?" asked Shadow.

"Maybe seven minutes but no more than ten. Of course that was before he was shiny," said Espio.

They had been at this for maybe thirty minutes so far. Longer than any stage had a right to take. They had to hold on a bit longer. Shadow flared more chaos spears. After Eggman shrugged them off, he tried to grab Shadow. Shadow resisted with chaos power in his hands. The contest of wills lasted for about a minute and Eggman had Shadow where he could squeeze him to death.

"Last words, Shadow?" asked Eggman.

"Tell my tale to those who ask…tell it truly, the bad deeds along with the good," said Shadow.

"Stealing from Shakespeare or Scott McNeil?" asked Eggman as he increased the pressure.

Shadow kept up his chaos aura. It was the only thing preventing Eggman from finishing him off, well that and Eggman's flair for the dramatic. Espio appeared and tried to beat the fists loose, but he was having no luck.

"It didn't end at Mad Matrix, it won't end here. Hold on Shadow," said Espio.

"This is not the internet, chameleon, I am quite real here," said Eggman.

"Save yourself, Espio. Get the others out of here. Reunite with the Chaotix, fight again another day," said Shadow, straining under the pressure.

"Yes, Espio, the more the merrier," said Eggman.

Shadow closed his eyes. In a minute it would all be over. He done his duty for Maria, for GUN, for the others. He could go clean. He waited for the release. Then there it was. Shadow fell down down into the ground with a plop, which caused him to open his eyes.

Eggman's robot had powered off. He was jamming at the controls trying to restore power. Shadow weakily walked over to grab the hammer where Tails had dropped it. He pulled it back and whacked the windshield, exposing Eggman. Eggman managed to get the Titan's arms moving enough to ward Shadow off, but he heard the sound of metal slicing through metal.

Espio had cut into the mech with a giant star and removed the chaos emeralds from the machine. A shadow came over the hangar area and Eggman climbed out of his latest attempt to conquer the world. It was the Egg-O-Matic with Metal Sonic at the controls. Metal Sonic fired the small lasers at Shadow. When the smoke cleared, it was Super Shadow who emerged. He glared at Metal Sonic.

"Oh no, I think he's mad," said Cubot.

"Idiots, fire at the fox and the girl," said Eggman.

Metal Sonic did just that, firing the small cannons at the two motionless forms on the grass. Super Shadow had to move to intercept. While he did that, the Egg-O-Matic picked up Eggman and began to fly away. Super Shadow judged that they were a little far away considering that he was not at full strength. He fired a concentrated chaos spear that followed the Egg-O-Matic and appeared to shoot it down.

He came down to ground level. "Good thinking, Espio," he said. He remembered that Sonic could share his power in super form. He headed over to the hill. Tails was pretty beat up with wounds just about everywhere. Super Shadow placed his hand over the fox's body and Tails' eyes blinked open. He still didn't move very well.

Next was Amy. This was easier since she was not wounded just drugged. She looked glad to see Shadow in his super form, but he ignored her to walk over to Omega. The infusion of energy brought the robot out of stasis lock. Omega messed with his fingers before firing a missile at the heap that was the titan.

Espio, Tails, and Amy all seemed to want to talk to Shadow, but he ignored them all and walked back into the hangar. He passed through back into the prison.

"Hey, is that Heavy and Bomb? What happened to them?" asked Espio.

"They chose the wrong side this time," said Omega.

Super Shadow found the cells where Rouge, Sonic, and now Big were occupying. Rouge was awake and she was thrilled to see Shadow return with Omega. Super Shadow shared his energy with her and she was able to fly once more.

Then Shadow shared his energy with Sonic, and the blue hedgehog awoke from his drug induced slumber.

"Hiya there, Shadow. You went super? Oh Big is here? Watch out he is evil now. I could not bring myself to hurt him so he had me shot with tranq darts. Dull party, man," said Sonic.

Super Shadow went to Big and shared energy with him. That seemed to bring Big around. Shadow released the chaos emeralds and they scattered. Then he collapsed on the ground, all he could hear was a collective 'Shadow!' as he lost consciousness.

He woke up in the GUN headquarters hospital bed with an IV plugged into his arm looking at the face of Cream the Rabbit. There was a Chao sleeping on his shoulder. This seemed too familiar. Except before Cream had stayed in the chair, not daring to sit next to his bed.

"Was it all a dream?" he asked Cream.

"Was what a dream, Mr. Shadow?" asked Cream.

"Frog Forest. Metropolis. The Center. The Hangar. Big. The Doctor," said Shadow.

"I didn't go to any of those places, Mr. Shadow. But you seem to have gotten yourself hurt again," said Cream. "You must have done something, because you have a bunch of visitors."

"I don't think I want to see visitors," said Shadow.

"But they want to see you, Mr. Shadow. They know if they wait til you get better, you will run away again," said Cream.

"Darn, they figured me out," said Shadow.

"Let me go get the first one," said Cream. She went and opened the door. In came Vanilla, Gemeril, and the GUN Commander.

"Cream, you aren't bothering Mr. Shadow, are you?" asked Vanilla. Cream shook her head. "Well thank you for helping us, Shadow," said Vanilla.

"Thank Tails and GUN," said Shadow.

"The Commander warned us that you were no good at receiving compliments. Just know you are welcome any time even if you just want to drop in on Gemeril," said Vanilla.

"Mrs. Rabbit, if would excuse me for a moment," asked the Commander as he ushered the other three out.

"You know I need a report," said the Commander as he sat down in Cream's chair.

"Disturbance discovered. Metropolis pacified. The Doctor defeated. Chaos Emeralds recovered," said Shadow.

"I'm sure they will write it up just like that when it comes time," said the GUN Commander. "You know you were right."

"And wrong. The Doctor was behind it in a way that even Omega could not put together," said Shadow.

"White is black, black is white, right is wrong, wrong is right," said the GUN Commander. "Sound familiar?"

"No," said Shadow.

"Thought it would," said the older man.

"What happened in the cleanup?" asked Shadow.

"We arrested Fang, Bark, Heavy, and Bomb. I imagine we have to put Bomb in a padded cell," said the GUN Commander.

"Big?" asked Shadow.

"We have arrested him to, but we have encouraged the judge to put him into counseling and probation rather prison. It was not really his fault, after all," said the Commander.

"Please tell me that you are the last of my visitors," said Shadow.

"Fat chance, but I can quarantine the room to get everyone out of here. However quarantine can only last for so long and I have a feeling they will still be there," said the Commander.

"Eat the frog first, right?" said Shadow.

"That's the spirit. I'll send the next group in," said the Commander.

Shadow braced himself. Somehow Cheese was still sleeping on his pillow through all the commotion. He looked as the door opened and his hospital room was invaded by Team Chaotix. Shadow almost instantly regretted his decision.

"Hey Shadow! I heard you did a bang up job. Espio told me all about it," said Charmy Bee. "I wish I could have been there, but Vector and I had this important job watching frogs."

"Well pro bono, but we did find the frog in question," said Vector.

"You actually found Froggy?" asked Shadow.

"Sure did," said Vector.

"Where was he?" asked Shadow.

"In the computer room," said Vector.

"What?" asked Shadow.

"The computer room of the ranger station at Frog Forest," said Charmy Bee. "We went there to try and contact GUN."

"There's a chance that GUN will give us some kind of reward," said Espio. "But working with you was reward enough for me (Let's not get crazy, interjected Vector). If you should ever need us, Shadow, Team Chaotix is here."

"Just don't forget we don't work for free," said Vector. "Now let's go see if GUN will give us some money."

Shadow rolled his eyes as they left. Well Big had his frog at least. If that mattered. Next to come in were Rouge and Omega, his old teammates. He would have smiled, but he could not summon the strength.

"Shadow, thanks for coming after me. I realize it was your job and all, but it meant something to me," said Rouge. "Every girl needs a friend like you, whether you accept our friendship or not. Loyal and unassuming. I hope one day you can accept that."

"Or robot. Too bad we did not get to be the three amigos this time. Maybe there is more to life than revenge," said Omega.

"What will you do now, Omega?" asked Shadow.

"I will join GUN and learn what protecting others is really like," said Omega.

"You know, Rouge, we might need that Master Emerald in the future," said Shadow. "Especially since you know the password."

"Stay naïve Shadow, don't poke around where you're not wanted or I'll have to take back all those nice things I said," said Rouge. After that statement the bat and the robot exited and their places were taken by Tails, Sonic, and Amy Rose.

"You've got pretty comfy in here, Shadow. Chao and everything," said Sonic. "But let's get down to it. You did good back there. I knew you had it in you."

"Your friends deserve you, Sonic. I once saw them as your burdens and a thing that prevented you from true greatness. They really are assets," said Shadow.

"Hey is that Shadow throwing around compliments? Now I know you're not better," said Sonic.

"How are you feeling, Shadow?" asked Tails.

"I'll live, thanks to you and her," said Shadow. "We got more than we bargained for."

"Yeah, I thought was going to fix a computer," said Tails.

"You did do that," said Shadow without much color in his voice. "And wrecked Sonic's plane."

"What? Tails, did you take the Tornado? Well I guess I have a standing work order," said Sonic.

"Hey Sonic, can we talk to GUN about airplane parts? They have some neat ideas," said Tails as he essentially dragged Sonic out of the room.

That left Amy in the room. She walked over and bent over and kissed Shadow on the top of his head.

"What was that for?" asked Shadow.

"Saving me from Fang twice," said Amy. "And trusting me to free the prison."

"That didn't exactly go well," reminded Shadow.

"That's not the point. You're worse than Sonic sometimes," said Amy.

"I think we ended up even. You did tell me how to beat the Doctor," said Shadow. "Which reminds me, you should really stay away from that Doctor."

"Ha ha. I think I've proved that I don't just stay away, Shadow the Hedgehog. Besides, we're friends now. You'll be seeing more of me for sure," said Amy.

"You mean when you're not chasing Sonic," said Shadow. "I think the airplane garage is to the east."

"So long, Shadow the Hedgehog. It's been fun," said Amy. She slowly closed the door behind her and lingered in passing by his window.

Shadow relaxed. He looked at the sleeping Cheese. Who am I, he wondered. Have I changed or am I just showing more of who I always was? The answer came to him suddenly, "I am…all of me." He drifted back to sleep, suddenly interested in tomorrow.


End file.
